Brush



C. C OURS Sept. 19, 1961 BRUSH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 13, 1958 INVENTOR CARL COLBERT OURS BY f 2 g ATTORNEY .Sept. 19, 1961 c. c. OURS 3,000,030

BRUSH Filed June 13, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR CARL COLBERT OURS ATTORNEY Utcd States Patent 3,000,030 BRUSH Carl Colbert Ours, Ridgewood, NJ., assignmto E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 13, 1958, Ser. No. 741,868 1 Claim. (Cl. 15-201) This invention relates to a brush, and, more particularly, to a brush with a flexible back.

Brushes have been developed in the past which achieve a semiflexible back by providing a plurality of tufting supports which are connected by metallic springs, or by nonmetallic springlike members, or by a weblike connection. These connecting members allow the tufting supports to flex relative to each other and thus yield a brush with a semiflexible back. Brushes which exhibit nonmetallic tufting support connectors are described in U.S. Patent 2,730,- 747 issued to L. R. Bressler January 17, 1956, and U.S. Patent 2,722,031 issued to L. R. Bressler November 1, 1955. It is well known that metallic springs are subject to corrosion as well as fatigue, and, although the use of nonmetallic springlike members or weblike connections for the tufting supports eliminates the corrosion problem, the flexibility of the back of such a brush is limited; thus, brushes of the prior art only partially conform to uneven contours. In many cases, brushes with devices that connect the tufting supports in the above-mentioned manner contain objectionable dirt-catching crevices. In brushes of the prior art the hand of the user may be pinched when adjacent tufting supports contact each other when the brush is severely flexed.

It is an object of this invention to provide a brush that conforms to uneven surfaces by virtue of a flexible back; said back being integrally formed with the tufting sup ports of the brush. Another object is to provide a brush with a completely flexible back which exhibits no dirtcatching cracks and crevices. Still another object is to provide a brush with a flexible back that is easily fabricated and requires simple modification to adapt the brush to many uses.

The above objects are accomplished by providing a brush body of a synthetic, flexible, thermoplastic material wherein the lower surface of the body has a series of substantially straight lands and uninterrupted grooves that extend across the entire surface either parallel, perpendicular, or both parallel and perpendicular, as in a wafie pattern, to the long axis of the brush. In conjunction with the above, the said lands retain the tufts of said brush and are so formed that the height of said lands measured in a direction perpendicular to the said upper surface is less than three times the width of said grooves measured in a direction parallel to said upper surface and perpendicular to the long axis of said lands so that the flexing of the back may not be impaired by the contacting of adjacent lands. The condition of severe inward flexing is illustrated in FIGURE 7 on the attached drawing. The brush may also be flexed outwardly through an angle of 180". It should be noted that the axis about which the brush may be flexed will be parallel to the direction of the lands and grooves. Multi-directiona-l flexing of the brush back may be obtained by arranging the lands and grooves in a waffle pattern as illustrated in FIGURE 5. An exceptionally tough, yet flexible, back is obtained when said back is made of polyethylene, and very satisfactory results are obtained when the tufts are nylon bristle.

An important feature of this invention is the integrally formed brush body which comprises a flexible back and spaced tutting supports with said supports arranged on the lower surface of, and being an integral part of, the back. The above-mentioned integral formation imparts "ice strength and durability to the brush body and essentially eliminates the cracks and crevices which are peculiar to the prior art brushes that exhibit flexible backs. By locating the tufting supports and the associated grooves essentially on the lower side of the flexible back, a substantially smooth uninterrupted upper surface has been provided which eliminates injury to the hand of the user. This substantially smooth uninterrupted surface is shown at 8 in FIGURE 2 of the attached drawing. When the preferred materials of construction are used for the back and tufting supports and the tufting supports are spaced as shown in the attached drawing, a completely flexible brush is obtained. The preferred materials of construction for the body of the brush are tough, strong, elastic and chemically resistant plastics, especially polyethylene, while the preferred tufts are bristles of nylon or of plastics of like characteristics' In addition to the novel features mentioned above this brush encompasses the majority of features obtained in employment of a brush with a flexible back.

A more complete understanding of the features of this invention may be had by referring to the drawings attached hereto and made a part of this description. FIGURE 1 is a bottom view of a brush with the grooves running transversely beneath the back of the brush. FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the brush shown in FIGURE 1. FIGURE 3 is a front view of the brush shown in FIG- URE 1. FIGURE 4 is a partial, bottom view with the grooves running longitudinally beneath the back of the brush. FIGURE 5 is a partial bottom view with the grooves running both longitudinally and transversely beneath the back of the brush. FIGURE 6 is a front view of the brush of FIGURE 5-. FIGURE 7 shows the brush of FIGURE 1 in a folded position to indicate the high degree of flexibility of the back of the brush. FIGURE 8 shows the brush of FIGURE 1 with a cross sling secured to the back of the brush. FIGURE 10 represents the preferred form of the invention and is an isometric view of the brush of FIGURE 1 which has been modified by placing a plurality of upwardly extending projections or fins around the perimeter of the upper surface of the brush. FIGURES 9 and 11 show a partial side view of the brush of FIGURE 10 which is flexed inwardly in varying degree. For the purposes of illustration, the tufts of the brushes 7 in FIGURES 1 through 11 are formed of a multiplicity of individual bristles.

By reference to FIGURES 1, 2, and 3, the general configurations of the brush with transverse tufting supports and grooves can be seen. The back of the brush 1 and the tufting supports 2 are integrally formed. The tufting supports or lands 2 are elongated and are so related to each other than the paces or grooves 4 therebetween are parallel to the transverse axis of the brush and allow flexing of the brush around the transverse axis as shown in FIGURE 7. FIGURE 4 shows the grooves 4 running longitudinally beneath the back 1, while FIGURE 5 shows the grooves 4 running longitudinally and transversely beneath the surface of the back in a criss-cross pattern which gives a waffle effect to the bot-tom of the brush. The brush as shown in FIGURE 4 will flex around the longitudinal axis and the brush of FIGURES 5 and 6 will flex around the longitudinal axis, or the transverse axis, or both axes. It is desirable to increase the spacing between the tufting supports as shown in FIGURE 1 (4) as the supports approach the central portion of the brush. This spacing scheme prevents contact of the adjacent supports at the location where the most severe flexing occurs. The contacting of the adjacent supports somewhat restricts the degree to which the brush will flex. FIGURE 8 shows one of the many adaptions of this invention wherein a cross-sling 5 is connected to the back of the brush at points 6. This sling 5 holds the hand of the user snugly for the hand of the user.

against the back of the brush. FIGURE shows the preferred form of the invention wherein a plurality of projections, or fins 9, have been provided to act as a grip These projections extend upwardly from, and usually perpendicular to, the upper surface 8 of the brush and around the perimeter of the upper surface. This modification does not adversely affect the inward or outward flexing as shown in FIGURES 9 and 11 of the back because the notches 10, which separate each adjacent projection 9, coincide with the grooves 4 on the lower surface and extend substantially flush, or coincident with, the upper surface of the brush. By increasing the width of the notch as measured along the perimeter of the upper surface as the height of the projections increases, adjacent notches can be kept from contacting when the brush is flexed outwardly as shown, in FIGURE 9. In many cases the use of the brush may require severe outward flexing and, for this reason, the projections are made thin or fin-like so that adjacent projections will slip over each other as illustrated in FIGURE 11, and thus the projections will not impair the most severe flexing of the brush. In some cases it is preferred that the height of the projections or fins measured in a direction perpendicular to the upper surface of the brush does not exceed three times the height of the lands of the brush measured perpendicular to the upper surface.

The brush of this invention could be used as described in the explanation and shown in the drawing, or could be coupled with a glove, mitten, strap, hand-grip, extension handle, or like adaptions to the main invention for scrubbing or massaging uneven surfaces such as those found on the human body, on automobiles, on upholstered furniture, etc; The stiffness of the bristles may be varied to meet the demands of varying uses, such as the use as a clothing brush or the use as a hair or scalp brush. This invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit of the invention; hence, the preceding discussion is intended to be illustrative rather than restrictive.

I claim:

A brush comprising an integral body of a synthetic, flexible thermoplastic. material and a plurality of tufts; said body having a substantially smooth uninterrupted upper surface and a lower surface; said lower surface having a series of substantially straight lands and uninterrupted grooves; said grooves extending across the entire lower surface; said lands retaining the tufts of said brush and so formed that the height of said lands measured in a direction perpendicular to said upper surface is less than three times the width of said grooves measured in a direction parallel to said upper surface and perpendicular to the long axis of said lands; said upper surface being provided with a plurality of thin projections that extend upwardly from the perimeter of the upper surface of said brush; and wherein adjacent projections are separated by notches; said notches being directionally opposed to said grooves and the bottoms of said notches being substantially coincident with the upper surface of said brush.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,473,315 Poirier Nov. 6, 1923 2,277,682 Brighton Mar. 31, 1942 2,722,031 Bressler Nov. 1, 19.

FOREIGN PATENTS 4,624 Great Britain Mar. 6, 1905 10,995 Great Britain May 9, 1913 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 000030 7 September 19; 1961 Carl Colbert Ours I It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered petent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below. 1

Column 3,, lines 14 and 15, for "projections" read notch line 15 for "notches" read projections Signed and sealed this 13th day of February 1962.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER DAVID L. LADD Attesting Officer I Commissioner of Patents 

